The Buoy

Barton

March 7, 2014

"The Buoy."

"It is so good that it hurts." You may have heard of that expression at one time or another. No doubt they were talking about A.R.T. or active release therapy. A.R.T usually involves the breaking up of scar tissue and the like when your having pain in certain areas of your body. Many people use foam rollers or similar contraptions in order to fix nagging injuries. I have done them one better. I have used the same action but replaced the soft foam roller with a sea buoy. 

Unlike the foam roller the sea buoy is 10 times harder. I have used it in the past to fix my olio tibial band syndrome when I overdid my road running. I've recently rediscovered my love for the hard piece of foam. More accurately my back has rediscovered the love the buoy gives. It's not the gentlest lover but afterwards I am no longer in pain. This recent back injury stemmed from too much snow shoveling combined with pulling it in the basement at the end of a lift play. A lift play is where I try and lift weights while getting distracted with projects, readings, and any other form of distraction I can find in the basement of my home. 

Running doesn't seem to make it any worse. In fact I think it actually helps to a certain degree. I'm not praising the road as a healing agent, far from it. Now the trails are another story. But that story can only be told when all this snow and ice thaws out. The way it's going around here it may take a while. It could be 50 degrees one day and the next so cold I got to wear my snowboarding face mask. Well at least the mask got some use cause I think my snowboarding days are over. Not that I wouldn't go again, I was actually invited to go on a day trip Saturday. I just feel it's not worth it and would rather find something else to do, like swimming, biking or running. Snowboarding for me has always been sort of a social thing where the focus is on friendship. Anyways with my back being annoying I figured that wasn't the best option for me but for alls I know it would probably fix me right up, o well. We are never the person we were yesterday, each day is a new. That's why I try and live each day with passion. Steve runner/walker said it nicely on The Wine Chat Podcast where he said, "Passionate people don't wake up in the morning to get through their lives. They get up in the morning to experience their lives. To take even the most mundane things they have to do during the day and make a moment of it. It's how I try to live my life."

That is also how I try to live my life as well. I try to love what I am doing. I also try and do what I love. Being in the moment has always been hard for me. I'm always thinking about the next thing. One of the problems is I have a lot of time to think. Maybe it's not a problem but a blessing. All I need to do is think it is positive and it will be. The power of positive thinking is something to keep in mind. Seeing the glass is half full can be tough but it's well worth the training. 

In regards my physical training the buoy has always been a great help when I have been coming back from an injury. I've been eating good and swimming more so I haven't had a real serious running injury in a while. Besides the preventative maintenance the buoy provides it also feels good. It hurts sometimes but the after feeling is great. Kind of like stretching when you sit at a desk all day. Now that I rediscovered my buoy I'm sure I'll make it a daily lunch break routine.

"Still floating"

- Barton -